Air Force Falcons
After finishing 4-28 this past season, the Falcons are looking for any help. Since they are an academy, they won't see anybody coming in from the transfer portal and will have to rely on recruiting. They were led by senior guard Ethan Taylor, who averaged 13.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 3.5 APG. Taylor led the team in rebounds this year, standing at 6'5, so the Falcons need more dominant post play. Air Force already has a 7-footer, sophomore center Wesley Celichowski, on the team. He averaged 8.7 PPG and 2 RPG in 20 MPG. Hopefully, he can become a force inside in his junior season to boost Air Force.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State went on a great run to end the regular season, going 8-2 in their last 10 regular-season games and making it to the Mountain West Conference finals, where they would fall short to Colorado State. They were powered by two fourth-year starters, Tyson Degenhart and Alvaro Cardenas, and sophomore forward Andrew Meadow. Cardenas was the only starting guard on the team and the only guard who played over 15 MPG. With him leaving, the Broncos are going to need someone to bring the ball up the court and run the offense, especially in league play. They need someone who can dish out almost 7 APG and feed all their forwards like Cardenas did this season. They grabbed Dylan Andrews in the portal, who averaged 6.9PPG and 3.5 APG in about 25 MPG. They also have Julian Bowie, a returning freshman who didn't see the court much this season but could have a breakout season this upcoming year in the backcourt with Andrews.
Colorado State Rams
The Rams had a great season, only to be cut short after Maryland's Derik Queen made a buzzer-beater to give Maryland the win and go to the Sweet 16. This year's team was full of talent and many players saw multiple minutes, but with Nique Clifford leaving for the draft and Kyan Evans leaving for North Carolina how can Colorado State make another run for the tournament? I think a key for them is getting a guard who can take care of the ball. Their team will be made up of transfers and underclassmen. The team chemistry may not be high at the start, but if they don't turn the ball over and play clean, we could be seeing them again next March.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno finished second-to-last in the conference this season and 6-26 on the season. They are seeing multiple players leaving the program, and four of their top 5 scores are either graduating or in the transfer portal. One big need for the Bulldogs is better shooting. They shot 40.6% from the field this season and 31.3% from three, both ranking dead last in the conference. Getting a player from recruiting or a player in the portal who has range from outside may help them increase their shooting, and hopefully, they can see an increase in wins.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Finishing a game over .500 this season, the Wolf Pack is watching their three impact players leave the program. The biggest one is Nick Davidson, who is leaving for Clemson after averaging 15.8 PPG and 6.5 PPG. He led the team in scoring. The biggest part about his game was that the 6'10 "senior was 37.1% from three. For Nevada to continue to grow their program, they need another big to stop and stretch the floor to spread opposing defenses.
New Mexico Lobos
The Mountain West regular season champions are currently looking for their new backcourt duo. Donovan Dent, who averaged 20.4 PPG this season, entered the portal before the tournament ended and is now at UCLA. His running mate, Tru Washington, who averaged 11.1 PPG and 2.1 SPG, left to go to Miami (FL). After a big season from both of them, the Lobos will need at least one guard who can help run up and down the floor and play efficiently on both ends of the floor.
San Diego State Aztecs
San Diego State's season ended this year in the first four after losing by 27 points to North Carolina. As they began looking ahead to next season, their leading scorer, Nick Boyd, left for Wisconsin, but fortunately, a lot of their core starter are staying. The area where the Aztecs could use improvement is players scoring off the bench. Their top five scorers this season were their starters, which isn't a problem, but it would be helpful for them if they had a consistent 6th man to come in and give them 7-10 PPG.
San Jose State Spartans
The Spartans are another team that will be in rebuild mode this offseason. They went 15-20 this past season and are losing most of their impact players to the portal and graduation. The one thing they did do well this season was shoot the three. Every player who played over 20 MPG, except for their center, who didn't attempt a three all year, was over 30% from three. They also shot almost 35% from deep as a team. The problem is that most of those players are gone. If they want to continue improving as a team, they must find players who can help keep that shooting percentage high.
UNLV Rebels
After finishing in the middle of the pack this year, UNLV fell in the conference ranks from last season. An area they need improvement in is offensive rebounding. They ranked 8th in the conference this year, a big decline from last year when they were 4th in the conference. They do have an incoming transfer, Emmanuel Stephen, from Arizona. Stephen didn't see many minutes this year and only played eight games, but his 7"0 frame will be helpful in putting back missed shots if he gets minutes.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State is coming off a great season where they went 26-8 and 3rd overall in the conference. One of their weaknesses from this past season is that they average 2.8 BPG per game compared to 4.2 BPG the previous season. In their first-round tournament loss to UCLA, the Aggies only blocked two shots, while the Bruins blocked 7 of Utah State's. More than likely, it will come from a young player already on the team, but if they can find a dominant big, then an increase in rim protection will give an already top-of-the-conference team a huge boost next season.
Wyoming Cowboys
The Cowboys had an underwhelming season, only winning 5 of their 20 conference games. Their leading scorer, Obi Agbim, who averaged 17.6 PPG, is leaving to go to Baylor. He averaged almost 10 points more than their second-leading scorer. Wyoming, as a team, only averaged 67.2 PPG, the second lowest in the conference. This coming season, the Cowboys need an increase in scoring as a team and someone who can score as efficiently as Agbim on a nightly basis.